Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 107 | Phil's Prediction for America, Si's Refusal to Get ESPN, and Tim Tebow Tales

Episode Date: June 26, 2020

Phil predicts how long America has left if there's not a mass awakening that changes its trajectory. Jase and Al are baffled by Si's refusal to get ESPN. The guys trade Tim Tebow stories, including Al's Amsterdam encounter and the first time Jase met Tebow. And Phil, Jase, and Al respond to an audience email about what to do when you struggle with faith and whether or not God is real. See episodes of "Unashamed with Phil Robertson": https://bit.ly/2J4XsiX   See clips from Phil's TV show "In the Woods with Phil": https://bit.ly/2PNM6k1 - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? So last night, Jay-Zal, I was at the church building. We had an elders meeting and had to film a couple of videos. And there was a couple of guys there. Bert, Bert was from Michigan. And he and another guy had come down here to West. Their podcast watchers and listeners.

He was just on his motorcycle. He said, you know, we think we'll take a run down to Westman. row, spend a couple of days, which is, I said, well, how long, burn, how long did he get here? He said, 16 and a half hours on a motorcycle. On a motorcycle. But they, I mean, and so somebody said, boy, I bet you got some saddle sores, you know, and he said, eh, no, I'm just fortunate to be alive. He is, but he's super nice guys.

It's nice to meet you, but I know you're watching. And then it's interesting because this week, you know, I was on one of the former podcast, Jay, so this guy sends me a letter. This is from Captain Kirk. He's from Ohio. Seriously? Seriously. That's just like his handle, I guess, which I kind of liked him already because, you know, I was a big Star Trek guy. And so he said that he quoted me as saying on one of the podcasts, because you talked about, I think it was when we were talking about those championship ring replicas.

I was like, Jay's, why do you get all the cool stuff? And all I get in the mail was bills, you know, so I was kind of, you know, making a joke about it. So this guy, Captain Kirk, says, that's just not right. So he said, I want to write the wrong. So knowing that you are one of the biggest Joe Borough fans in the state of Louisiana, I thought I'd send you a unique gift. I'm certain your brother hasn't received. So here was the gift. There's the front of it. It's an Ohio State jersey, which I first saw the front of it.

And I thought, hmm, I wonder what that's supposed to mean. But then I turned it over. And so it was Burroughs because he played Ohio State for, what, two years, three years before he changed for DLSU for our championship season. But we moved on. We moved on. So he said, and he said, Did they run him off? Did he leave?

Well, he, he was hurt, and so he didn't get to compete for the starting job. And so then the year after he was hurt and was ready to compete, the other guy had already won the job. So he couldn't crack in the lineup. Yeah, see. I mean, as it turned out, bad move by Ohio State. Well, did they win? Have they wins the last time? No, that was before Burroughs, right before him was the national championship.

So I guess it was a bad thing. Well, it probably was. Well, I'm sure that's the way they look at it. Of course, really interesting because it was one of the, but it was the perfect storm because Burrough, the previous year at LSU, he was good, but he wasn't what he was this last year. I mean, he elevated into another zone. But it was just the right recipe of all the, you know, stuff that was going on LSU,

which I'm glad we're talking about it again because, you know, football, we haven't able to watch sports, baseball, nothing else. And I'm thinking like, man, we've got to keep bringing up the LSU National Championship Jays all year because I don't even know if they're going to be playing again or if they'll be playing it. Yeah, they just started golf back, which it's hard to make golf exciting. But when you haven't watched sports in months, it was riveting. Yeah.

And it was weird because there were no people there. So somebody had to make a hole, the guy made a hole in one. You heard. At least football went out in a blaze of glory. Well, it did for us. So I want to read you what he said here. I thought this was pretty good because this guy is quite the wordsmith. He says, although Burrow has ascended to legendary status in the bayou,

the very essence of Joe's Genesis is firmly escorts within the fertile football soils of the Buckeye State. Captain Kirk, I like her. He said, but he came from Ohio State. El Kepi 10, I'm looking at the facts here. The claimed national titles at Ohio State, the last one was 2014. Yeah. So that was when, that was before Borough. Yeah.

They had that, remember that's the year the guy got hurt right at their start at the end of the season. And then some freshmen, remember that big kid, the freshman came in and won the two playoff games. Of course, I think he went pro, so everybody's happy. Oh, yeah. But, you know, it's all in how you gauge success. and when you get outside of Jesus, I guess when you're talking about college football, it's got to be national championship.

But I think football is a team sport. So we appreciate y'all sending this down. I like that. I think the coolest thing. He understands I'm not going to wear it because he said that letter. He said, I know you're, you know, because I don't wear other teams stuff.

Do you want to get shot? No. I did. I'm past the rah-rah team. I think you passed that 50 years ago. Yeah, I think you passed that when you walked away from the game. You do watch it, but you don't seem to have that competitive. Because if you watch the LSU game with me.

Oh, Jace is still jumping around like he's in the game, Dad. He's like, he's there. In his mind, he just. I don't get that worked up about things like that. I'll tell you this, when we won it, I took a picture. Then I ran outside and just ran down the street, hollering. Dog started barking. Is that the way you reacted, Dad?

Did you run down to the river? No, no. When I'm running down the street, somebody's after me. So, so as interesting. And I don't have a weapon. We had, Sai was over at the house watching the National Championship game because he doesn't have ESPN. I'm like, sigh, how do you not? I mean, like, you like sports, right?

And he said, oh, yeah, I love it. He said, well, I was getting the doggone expensive. And so we cut some of it. So we cut. I said, I was got enough. That's what I'm saying. I said, it doesn't get too expensive to get rid of your sports channel. And you call me tight?

Your brother, you need to talk to him. Well, I think it may be Christine, his wife, that was the driving forward. But he has to come to my house to watch the big games unless it's on regular TV, which is like, you can't have sports and not have ESPN. Yeah, the last time I talked to him about this, we got into the, you know, it turned into a Duck Dynasty episode, which it was, because we had an argument about live TV. You know, because he was wanting to watch some tape game at my house. I was like, what?

I was like, why don't, you know, and he said, well, I don't have ESPN. I was like, yeah, but it's happened. It's dead. He's like, no, it ain't dead. I was like, well, if it's not live, it's dead, right? And he's like, no. I want to come watch it. I was like, no.

I will just remind you that your name is Jason Silas Robertson. That's right. You were named after Silas. I just thought it was a weird thing to ask. Let me come watch. Did you tape the game? Let me come watch it at your house. No, I watched it a lot.

Why would I tape it? He's like, well, I just thought that's what you did. Well, you were wrong. The reason that Jason and I are really LSU fans, because Dad never really watched a lot of, I don't remember you watching a lot of college sports when we were growing up or really being into football that much. You kind of watch more pros now.

But the reason you and I are LSU fans is because of our uncle Harold. That's right. Dad's older brother, Harold, well, and Judy, and lived down there. And so, like, they would invite us, and we would go to LSU games,

and didn't Jimmy Frank go to LSU? Jimmy Frank graduated to LSU, and so did Harold. But Harold was like a just diehard fan, and Judy was, too, although she graduated from Northwestern. They were fans like, you're from Louisiana,

this is your state school. These boys need your support. You know, as a little kid, somebody's telling me that. I'm like, okay. But, you know, like, Judy would, and I live with Judy a couple of years in Laplace, and so she would get up on game day, and she would crank up the LSU fight song, and she would grab a broomstick, and she would go down the hall like she was the drum major.

I mean, that's how she woke everybody up in the house on Saturday. Oh, I remember the first game I went to that the morning of game day, our cousin Trey, I was asleep on the couch, and I heard, you know, like somebody was in trouble, screaming and hollering. he come running through did not have one stitch of clothes on carrying an LSU flag hollering and I thought well these people are into this they're into LSU football we have a naked naked fandom on sober here Phil and there was no I'm just saying you have a little text little nuggets from time of time do not get too overly involved in civilian affairs I'm stretching the text college football.

I don't know. I hadn't read that verse. I don't know what the book of feel. You know, in the South, college football is almost like an organism. It is. It is. It's its own little, I mean, some say religion. I don't know if I go that far, but people are into it.

I remember I had the strangest, the first time I met Tim Tebow, he came to my house. And you know how you think someone, you know, loves the Lord. And that's got how, you know, we're doing traveling in the same circles. And, but I was like, what are we going to do when this comes up? I mean, the guy, you know, went to Florida here. And they had, and he had a big back and forth with LSU. They had some big games while he was there both ways. Yeah.

And he was like, you know, off the record, I mean, I love you guys. He said, I hate LSU. And I was like, I mean, it was really hard for me in that moment. And then he kind of laughed. It takes new meaning to love. Love God and love your neighbor. Yeah, I thought, boy, this, he's hitting it where this, this, this, what we have in Jesus, he's putting that to the test right here before my eye.

Because he was mad because they, they got his phone number and he told the whole story. Remember when he did the numbers? Oh, he did. I said, when you did that at that moment to the students. I wanted to hit you right between the eyes. And he's like, if you heard that you're supporting your fan base, you should have heard the four of of words that they were, they were drunk.

They didn't know what they were saying. He's like, you're going to take up for these people? I just sort of stepped back one day and said, it's a game. Well, we were kind of kidding. It's a game.

It's a good, clean fun. Well, it is interesting when you meet some of the people now. Like, I said that about Tebow. I mean, I love Tebow.

I mean, I love what he represents. The whole thing of him in the pro game, I felt like he was kind of mishandled because of he was so strong in his faith. I mean, some of stuff that happened to him. So I love him, but when he was at Florida, no, sir. I mean, he was enemy number one.

I mean, I knew as a Christian is a good guy, but I didn't care about all that. Let's wait until we get past the game and then we can get back to love. I always just appreciated his talent. Yeah. But I knew with the long windup, I said, he won't do good in the pro. He won't probably make it in the pros. They said, oh, yeah, right. But I think now.

He's too big of a wind. When he had all the leadership and all that, he just had that one hitch in the field. out that's where they're missing what they failed to realize because now look at the saints you know they have their backup quarterback they actually have a package for him that guy's a beast yeah he really is yeah and and i'm like they could have found the same role with tbo because look you a guy like that he inspires people around him to be better people i think every workplace he's been in will say that and and you would only know you're not going to get that from an interview when you get to know him This guy, you know, you're ready to run through a wall.

I want this guy on my team. I'll find a place to make this work, you know. That I would tell you about the time. So Lisa and I were on our way to Africa, and we were in the airport and somewhere overseas, Amsterdam maybe. And so we're sitting in one of these lounges because you've got these long layovers. So we're in there like six hours. Lisa is trying to sleep, you know, and so I'm drinking coffee. And I look up.

I'm in an Amsterdam airport lounge. I'm halfway around the world. I look up and I see two guys walk by and I said, Lisa, I said, does that look like Tebow and his brother? And they were kind of, you know, far away. And she was like, I don't know, you know. So I sat there thinking. I said, that looked like Tim Tebow.

What would he be doing after that? So I got up, started looking around the lounge. I mean, it looks like Tim Tebow in Amsterdam. And I look over. Said no one. I look over at this group of people in a circle. And Tebow had his back to me so I didn't see him. But his dad had a Florida.

I saw a Florida had. I was like, oh, that's them. Well, yeah. So I just walked right up in the middle of it. It was this whole family. It was his mom and dad, his sister, his brother, and somebody else. And they were just kind of sitting in a circle. And they were just like us.

They were just waiting. And I was like, who in the world would think they would see the Tebow's in Amsterdam? And they first looked at me because they don't know me that way. I met them. And they were looking at me like, and then we busted out laugh when I said that. And then I told them who I was. And then I was, oh, sit down. Let's catch up.

And we talked about family. But I thought it was the weirdest. thing to run across them over there. We went up visiting for like two hours, you know, because his dad is a great guy. He was a pastor for many years. And how's he doing? He was sick. You know, I don't know.

I hadn't talked because we, we do the TBO event every year. And this year, because the coronavirus, they didn't do it. So I haven't caught up. But I hope he's doing well. I played. He was actually in his dad because we play golf to raise the money. Right. And we get to play at the TPC.

see at saundgrass yeah which is awesome yeah it really is and so uh well getting to know it he's one the i see why tbo is how he is i mean his dad has a special knack for making everyone around him feel like special he just some people just have a knack for that part of the reason too we've always hated florida is that that one of our most obnoxious uncles and some of our cousins that was my issue yeah that they're huge florida fans and uh So it was bad. The trash talk always got to epic proportion. But this year, you can imagine our lives have been really nice.

So thank you, Captain Kirk, for the gift. Let's take a break. So we got a couple of questions. It's Q&A today. I like, what is the process for picking these questions? You know, it's just random. They send me a lot of stuff, stuff that I think is kind of brought. Some stuff is specific and quick, and a lot of those I just send an answer to folks.

But some of these like the two we have today are really good kind of dive into, you know, I like that we do this because when you think about what we do here, we're, you know, talking about the point of the Bible. That's what we highlight, which is, you know, to reveal Jesus. But somewhere in all this, your faith in Jesus has to affect your everyday life. You know, it's not just, I think what religious people tend to do. it's just compartmentalize religion as a part of their life. Right. Which, when you read this, there's no support for that.

And so, you know, when you get down and people bear their soul, I guess, because I read over these, I mean, it's pretty humbling to read, you know, someone just, he's listening to something on a podcast. The next thing, you know, he's bearing his soul here. Well, and we appreciate the transparency. We've been transparent, you know, and so we appreciate that. So let's start with Ryan's question. He said, and I read you what he says, I thought it was really humbling.

He said, I go to church, I try to live my life like I should, but no matter how much I try, there's always a little voice in my head saying, is he real? And he has that in all caps. And all these amazing stories in the Bible, are they real? And I love this statement. It's so honest. I'm trying to teach my kids about something I don't fully believe in myself. And so he asked us to give him some advice.

He said, the reason I'm asking you is because I'm ashamed to talk about it with anybody else. And I thought it was interesting because Jay's and I were saying, you know, our podcast is unashamed. But Ryan has just been transparent saying, look, it's hard for, you know, he's in a community where everybody assumes that he's believed, you know, 100% everything. But he's struggling. He's struggling on the face side. We talk a lot about struggle on the sin side of what people do and their actions being evil. but you can also struggle in your faith in terms of, is it real? You know, is it fake?

So I thought we talked about that. I just did my last, you know, Zoom youth group meeting last night, which I did, I don't know, 20, I think, in 30 days. So quit sending requests because that's over. We did it because of the coronavirus. And look, I enjoyed doing them. I mean, that was 20 different cities. hundreds of youth, you know. But this, this question, this, it was the most common feel that, you know, I felt with the,

because I would do like a 20-minute introduction to Jesus. And then they would ask Q&A. And I think that's a legitimate question because, look, when you think about it, you know, my number one goal, which is even for the people listening right now, is at some point you've got to read one of the Gospels. I prefer John. That's why we're studying John, but anyone's fine. And you have to make a personal decision on what you think of Jesus, because this is designed by God to be done through faith. Now, he explains that we could give you the verses about faith and read you the definition, but it's basically believing and being sure of something that you don't see, which is God. Even though

you see, you know, you can talk about the creation, you have the Bible, you can see transformation in lives, but still it's based on a fact of you hear Jesus or you read Jesus for yourself. And so I always recommend that right off the bat. Read the book of John, takes 20 minutes, and then ask yourself one question, who is Jesus? What is my opinion of Jesus? Because that is really the simplistic way to get assurance through faith. Yep. Well, I would answer, what's his name? Ryan. Ryan, here's what you do. You read the book of John, as Jace just said, and then you pick up down here in First John. John also wrote that, chapter two and verse three.

Now, this is profound, and you're not, you're always going to be like, I'm not quite sure, I'm not quite sure, until you understand one thing. we know that we have come to know him, which is at the crux of his dilemma. He said, I'm going through the motions. You say, how can I tell really that he's real? Well, you're going to know that you've come to know him if we obey his commands. Now, this is blunt and to the point.

the man who says I know him, which is, it's Ryan. Yep. Ryan's struggle is, he said, oh, yeah, I'm a Jesus, man. I know Jesus. Well, the man who says that, I know him, Jesus, but does not do what he commands is a liar. The truth's not in him. But here's the deal, Ryan. If anyone obeys his word, read.

read what Jesus said, listen to what he told you, observe how he walked, observe his qualities, if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how Ryan we know we are in him. Whoever claims to live in him, and here's his struggle,

must walk at Jesus did. So when it comes right down to the most difficult thing there is for a human being on planet Earth, is to love God and love your neighbor, and then you prove it. You offer yourself, your body, as a living sacrifice before God, so that when people run up on you. Now look, if you do that, if you do that, Ryan, a strange thing will happen. once you were not a people, now you are the people of God. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have.

Tell them where you're at, sir. Yeah, I'm in First Peter chapter two here. I urge you, Ryan, to, according to the apostle, Peter, I urge you, here's what you'll be like in the world. As aliens and strangers in the world to abstain from sinful desires which war against your soul. If you walk like Jesus, this will not be an issue. But if you do walk like Jesus, there are some many that will say that Ryan, I mean,

that's strange. He should have been mad at what just happened to him, but he's not. He's not mad when he should be mad. He may get angry, but I've never seen him. acted out in a sinful way. Well, the more you do those things, the world around you will say, why? Why? How come you didn't retaliate?

You said, I'll leave room for God's wrath. I'm a follower of Jesus. I'm not into that. I have trained myself to be merciful when I shouldn't be. But I'm still merciful. I'm aware of my surroundings. I love my Savior. And I love my neighbor.

and I'm going to prove it to you by the way I roll. If you do that, Ryan, then the more you grow in that right there, the more you'll understand. Now I know what it is. I know he's there. I see the results of him in people's lives. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithful, gentleness, self-control. That's Jesus.

Right. And looking like him, let's take a break. I think what's troubling is that he said he goes to church. Then he hears the voice. So I think what Phil was describing is there's a difference in going to church and walking like Jesus. You are correct. I mean, that's a big difference. Just, you know, going to church.

That's why I said go to your room and read about Jesus. Because going to church doesn't really mean anything. It has no effect on your life as far as walking like Jesus. if your decision-making process doesn't link with what you're hearing on who your Savior is and then how it transforms into your life. That's why going to church, that particular phrase, is not in the Bible. Yeah, that's why I started saying I was at the church building. Now, he said that, and I've had people say, why do you always say the building after you say church?

I was like, well, because God doesn't live in buildings. The church is the people. is the people that are the body of Christ. You can't be at the church. The church can be at the building, but you can't be at the church. We are at the building. The church is actually a moving organism. That's why it says wherever there's two or three gathered together, well, we have the church.

It may be outside of any kind of place in the world. I mean, it doesn't matter where it's at. And I think to offer some hope to Ryan and others who struggle in your faith, Remember, people have struggled in faith as long as there have been people. I mean, I would argue that outside of Jesus, the Bible probably honors Abraham as being one of the most faithful people has ever lived. And we talked about in the last podcast. Why?

Because of reasons of the resurrection. But you will go back instead of the life of Abraham. There were periods of time when he doubted. Remember when he was going, he was going through someplace? And he was afraid that because he was married to Sarah, that, you know, the king was going to get after him. Here's the most faithful man on the planet, and yet he got fearful, and he lied about Sarah being his wife. And Ryan has the freedom to talk about Jesus, his Savior out loud, and on purpose. But think about it. We have a mighty throng of sons and daughters of God, the church,

in Red China, North Korea, they're in Iran. You say, you have got to be killed. They do everything in the little small groups and whispers. You say they're whispered the scriptures because the totalitarian regimes that they live under, the last thing you're going to ever be able to do is build you a structure with a steeple on the front of it. That's right. And said the people of God meet here services at 930. You're not allowed to do that. So you say, well, what do the sons and daughters of God do?

They meet in secret in their home. and they whisper and they're quiet. You say, but there's, oh, millions of them, but you never see them. Well, sometimes a persecution like that. Ryan has it better off being in America, at least now. All you get gets a cusset, you just take a cusset and move on. My point was, like Abraham and then the disciples were the same thing, because Jesus used the word, ye of little faith, more to his disciples than anybody.

And they were watching it unfold. But to Jason's point, when the disciples experienced Jesus' death and his burial and his resurrection, when they came out on the other side, they were different. They were different men. And so I think it's the same with us. Different is a – well, that's a – yeah, that's an understanding. They were transformed, you know. Because they experienced it for themselves for real. And that's the key.

They were around it. The common man can't see the coronavirus or smet it, taste it, touch, or anything else. but they see the results of it and they say, hmm, I know it's here. It's the same way with following Jesus. You say, a lot of people say, well, I've never seen him. So how would I see him? Just walk like he did. And you'll begin to see the qualities that come forth from you, the fruit that you bear,

what's stored in your heart, it comes from your mouth. You say, you can spot him. Well, I think the fundamental question is, is why don't you? God reveal himself because people look for a sign and they say, how do you love something you can't see? How do you find something? But everything we've described in 1st Peter, you know, he said praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in his great mercy, he's given us new birth into a living hope

through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Now this is what you would hear in Bible class. Yep. You have a living hope, you know, but then all of a sudden it says you rejoice in your trials, though you might have had to struggle with some, these have come so that your faith, which is believing in these things you can't see, may be proved genuine, you know, refined by fire. And then it says this phrase, which I think is to his question, though you have not seen him,

you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. That's it. So I think if it were me, because I've had those same questions, no, it was years ago, when is he real, what if this is true? And now when that thought pops into my head, I think you're a liar. Because I know whoever's telling me that, or whatever process that's coming from, that's

a lie, because I know he's real. because in this now what if things are going bad well i just read doesn't mean your life is going to be an order and you're not going to have any trials and the whole reason god chose faith according to first peter is that so your faith could be proved genuine by going through trials and you're believing and even though you don't believe and you don't see them and people are making fun of you or persecuting you for not being ashamed you're like yep i'm filled with an inexpressible joy i mean it seems kind of crazy, but that's just the way I've dialed it up. If the question comes in, is he real? The next question that should pop into your mind is, well, what if he's not?

What have I got? What are we looking at? You got nothing. Let's assume he's not real, you know, because that's what the voice is telling me. So what, so look around and say, what do I got? Because it really boils down to two, two really fundamental issues. If he's not real. So there is no God. The evolutionists are still right. We're just here. There's a lot that can't be explained. But what do you got without him? Well, the unbelievers hate that logic just because I've argued with the like. So your point is your way's better because the alternative is worse. I'm like, no, but it is a factor. Because you're persecuting me and you have nothing. You're the best.

you can hope for is death. The only hope the unbelie of man. The only hope the unbeliever has is that he not be there. Maybe he won't be there. There's no hope in that. There's no hope in that. Which is my point. I'm like, well, your physical death is coming up because we all, not only sin, we all die,

and the Bible says both, just to remind us, and you see an escape route through one person whoever lived, so you would think, I need to investigate him. But Phil. Well, investigate him. Hey, the last person I had a, I guess, debate with about this, they said, I'm going to be, I'm going to become part of the overall energy of life. And I said, no, what exactly is that? It's like, well, when we die, we're absorbed into the energy that produces life.

Had they been to the avatar planet? Is that where they came up with that? No, that's what they told. They said, because I don't need, you know, this, I don't need religion to make me feel better. I'm like, so you feel good about your life? They're like, yeah, I mean, that's what they were saying. And I was like, well, what is your purpose in life?

And it's like to find happiness. Everybody I've asked, do you have a better, They say, I don't believe in God and all that. I said, I understand. I said, but do you have a better story than this one and the results of it? Immortality, from mortal to immortal, from a small period of time you spend here to eternity. I said, do you have a better story than this one? Well, this was their better.

This was their better story. Yeah. But I thought it wasn't. Yeah. So let's take a break. But when I'm making a decision about... What have we lost by following Jesus, by the way? Well, my point is if we're going to, if I'm looking at a situation, I'm trying to make a decision.

I got to do this or I got to do this. You know, I may be looking at buying some property, a big decision, something I really have to spend some time thinking about. As I'm kind of wrestling in my mind, do I do it or do I not, the pro and the con. I think it's the same thing here. When you're talking about what you believe, which is what's going to try. drive the way you raise your family, what's going to drive the way I live. I mean, you have to look at the alternative. And the alternative to God not being real, I just don't see a lot of plus that. I mean, I realize the person you talked to says, well, I'm fine without him. Yeah, I think there's

some people that have convinced themselves. There's not a God. And so you're just living for this life. Look, I have a little healthier respect. At least they worked it out in their mind where at least- And they're going with it. Well, they're going with it. Right. Because people that just say, I don't know how I got here, I don't know what I'm doing here, and, you know, I'm just going to die. Well, you know, that just seems stupid to me.

I don't know. It's stupid, but it's certainly more. Well, you know, they're griping about what they're going to do in retirement. And I'm thinking, retire, you got bigger problems. What are you going to do after retirement? Then it just gets quiet. You know, they're looking at the ground because they don't, they don't think that far ahead. And, you know, it's interesting because until Christianity came along, even under Judaism, which is, you know, was the roots of before Christianity, the Jews, and you go back and read the Old Testament, you don't see much about heaven. You see a little bit about Shio, the idea. There's not a lot of afterlife stuff being talked about in the Old Testament. Not much at all. And then when you get to the, when Jesus came here, you had the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection, but you had a whole sect of Jewish leadership that just believe you go in the ground. That's it.

So think about it. I mean, the idea that Jesus did bring something revolutionary to everyone. The idea that you can go beyond the grave. And even the Jews didn't understand that fully. So think about what Jesus said, that you put a faith of a mustard seed, which if you got a mustard seed and put it in your hand, it's very small. Yep. One mustard seed.

And he talked about how that faith grows into this big plant. And so I would tell people that struggle with faith, that it grows. It's like even if you're struggling with it, you're not sure you're having these nagging doubts. Faith grows. And you guys have been in first Peter, but I want to read you a text from second Peter one. Peter says, make every effort to add to your faith. So you got faith and now it can be added to. What do you add to it, Peter?

Well, you add goodness. And to goodness, you add knowledge. This is kind of your point to add about the growth. Yep. To knowledge, self-control. To self-control, perseverance. What does that mean? That means you stand up under tough times.

To perseverance, godliness, and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. And listen to this in verse 8. If you possess these qualities in increasing measure, that means growth, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. True statement. If you don't grow in your faith, you wound up doubting your faith. I mean, that's what happens. Well, then he goes on to say, but anyone who does not have him, he's near sighted and blind has forgotten. He has been cleansed from his sins, which is why we started off saying read the book of John.

Correct. And revisit that because you've forgotten. But then he says, I think the next verse is also good. Because very few times in the Bible, does it ever say, if you do this, you won't fall? If you want an idea about what to do so you won't fall. Well, that's a really good idea. What is it? He says, therefore,

make, be all the more eager to make your calling an election sure, because that's what this whole conversation was about, doubt. Right. He says, make your calling and an election sure, which you do that by pursuing those qualities, ultimately Jesus, then you get the qualities. For if you do these things, you will never fall. How hard could it be? I mean, it's pretty much a map to heaven.

Yeah. is okay, how do I become sure? Well, I go look at who Jesus is and what he did. That's number one. And then I start putting these qualities in my life. By the way, you won't fall and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of Lord Xavier. So if you look at that, you say, you know what?

Do you have a better story? I keep going back to that, Alan. I'm like, this says immortality is waiting on a human being if he'll just grab a hole of it. And hold on, Ryan, hold on to it, man. Unless you see some other way we're getting out of here. I don't know how we're getting out of here unless this Bible is true. I used to always say, and I guess I'd probably learn it from you, Dad, that if we are wrong, and if all this has been elaborate.

Men dreamed it up. Men dreamed it up thousands of years. It's a doozy. All the apologetics, the Bible, all the things. things that are there, if it is all wrong, and I live my life for a lie because there was no God, there was no Christ. You know, I look at my life. I'm 55 years old.

I've enjoyed my life. My life's been good. I've avoided a lot of trouble. My kids are raised and are married and have their own children. We all live in a big compound together. And so, you know, I'm saying it's not the worst thing, even if it was a lie. I mean, even if we were wrong about the whole thing, I'll go to my grave and we'll never know. I'm on record out as saying peace of mind, which is what you get when you, as a follower of

Jesus, is one of the rarest commodities there is. Peace of mind is hard to come by. I don't care what the human race is hollering about it. I'm just looking at them on the news and what they say and what they're doing. I'm like, you know, that peace of mind, I've never seen it with the ungodly. I just haven't seen it. It's not there. Let's take one last break. So we had another question, but I don't want to get into it because I don't think we have enough time to be fair with it from Zacharize. I'm going to save that for next time. So in their closing time here we have that, I want to mention your book, which is Jesus Politics, how to win back the soul of America.

We're doing a pre-order run now. It's supposed to release August the 4th. So we're trying to get folks to pre-order the book. And so you can go to Jesus Politicsbook.com. That's where you can get you a copy. The first 2000 were signed, but I'm pretty sure by now, those are probably gone. But we still want you to sign up for the book. You do get to some things on there and some goodies to be able to do it.

So I want to talk to you a little bit, Dad, in our closing time here, about the books you've written because it's interesting. So you've written, this is your fourth book other than the Bible that you and I did, the commentary. So you started out happy, happy, happy, which was basically your life story. And out of all of our books, and we've had a lot of books sold, everybody here at the table and Willie and Sadie and others, but it is interesting that Happy, Happy, happy, happy is still the most sold of all of them. And it wasn't the first even, because Willis was first. But I think it was because it was your story of how you became a Christian, I think. Would you say that's? It was the story of my redemption.

Yeah. And then the starting of the business. From a sinful man to a son of God. Right. And it's very raw and transparent, and you were very honest in it about our life. Since all that, of course, we found out that from your former life,

you had a daughter, you didn't know, that's now a part of our family, who we love. Second book was called Unfiltered. And basically it was kind of your philosophy on life, but it was kind of caught up in the, what would you call it, that's the big controversy we had with the A&E and all the stuff we had going on.

So the book kind of got buried. We didn't, you know. And then you did the theft of America's soul, which I thought so far has been the, I mean, your story was great, but the theft of America's soul was probably the best book we've written because it was just so spot on to the evil one and what he's done. It's a spiritual war. It is. I mean, you kind of laid out the parameters.

And look, we can all see it because I've got to just turn on the news to see if it's true or not. You can see it in a living color every day. So you kind of laid out the problems. And so I just wanted you to talk a little bit about this about, Jesus politics as a response then after that kind of where did you go in the next book basically this one is the lifestyle that has to follow as we just mentioned your faith in Jesus there's a lifestyle that's required the manifesto has already been written read read the works of Jesus Christ what he did what he's now doing mediating for

us under grace. What he will do, he's going to return, wipe it clean. Basically, this is about a spiritual group of individuals, believers, with Jesus being the king, a nation of priests with a king that's operating inside an earthly kingdom. All earthly kingdoms, they rise and they fall. This one is an eternal kingdom, kingdom with a king. You can't stamp it out, you can't eradicate it. You can't get rid of it because our king is in heaven at the right hand of God. You're not going to cut the head off of this.

Yes. He's already come down and stay for 33 years, did what he had to do to justify you, to raise you from the dead, and he's gone back. So we are a kingdom, as Daniel would say, established inside an earthly kingdom, because earthly kingdoms will come and they will collapse. I'm on record is saying, without a mass awakening from within the kingdom of God, I give it 30 years. the United States of America. On its current track. From 2020, on its current trajectory, you will not have the country, America.

It will be a complete different country than 30 years, unless something has done a mass awakening to the King, Lord Jesus, unless that's done. Jesus politics is what do you do in your individual life from day to day to day to day, It comes down to make sure who you're voting for, make sure who you're listening to, make sure your children are trained because we have an education system now. It's devoid of God. So this is how to implement all the things that need to be implemented from the ground up, how we behave on planet Earth inside these United States of America, the kingdom of God functioning, and how to be a member of it.

and how to behave according to it. Well, what I like about your books, Dad, and this one in particular, is that you have to have people who have voices to speak God and speak Bible and speak Jesus into a culture. That's right. There's not many. You talk about a small space in our country. Many are called, but few are chosen.

Exactly. And the reason why is because it's not easy. You're going to be a target. You're going to be a lightning ride. A lot of things are going to happen because the evil one doesn't want to give up control. He wants this nation to be destroyed. he wants this culture be destroyed. So I do think it's interesting. I think the book, the timing of the book couldn't be better because of the division we see in our country about the idea that

it's going to take kingdom living. And what's interesting, Jay, about timing is that this, we wrote this book a pretty good while back, and it just takes a long time to get the process of getting it out. But our podcast has come along since then. And so I think we're in evidence of our podcast of what we're trying to talk about here. It's not a church thing. It's just a The book coming out of the phrase, unashamed, it's a way to be that way. It's a book about, so you can read something. They can watch the podcast. It is the book.

I mean, the book is the podcast. The podcast is the book. My Life is the Life. I mean, so you look at it. What I love about it is we're not really, I mean, all of us will preach or teach or do things in a quote unquote church setting. But then we just live it and then we talk about it. We study it.

we sharpen each other. I mean, I love our podcast because I'm still preaching, you know, more than y'all are right now. But it helps me, you know, it helps me to dive into these studies and what to do to motivate people and challenge me. If the great philosophers of the age, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, if they had had the printed word, God sent it through them. You know, I've often asked people, I said, what do you want God to do? Write you a letter? I said, he's strict. written you multiple letters. Why don't you just at least read them?

So basically this is another letter. This is just something you can add to the Word of God. The principles involved in it. So Unashamed Nation, just to let you guys know again, Jesus Politicsbook.com. Go there, pre-order your book. The more we sell ahead of time, the bigger splash we're able to make for Dad to be able to talk about this

in a national setting, which is what we're trying to do. We're trying to let people know. So we appreciate you guys watching. listening. We appreciate your comments that come back in. And we appreciate your supporting our projects as well. See you next time. So we're so glad you guys were with us today. You can subscribe on iTunes or Spotify or YouTube or Facebook. And be sure and rate us on iTunes so that other people can know about the podcast.